Business Directories

Reduced costs boost Riyad Bank profit

Riyadh, July 4, 2013

Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia's third-largest lender by market value, posted a 5.9 percent rise in its second-quarter net profit on Thursday due to a slight rise in operating income and cuts in costs.

The bank said it made 968 million riyals ($258.09 million) in the three months ending June 30, compared with 914 million riyals in the same period a year earlier.

Net profit for the first six months of 2013 was 1.92 billion riyals, up from 1.82 billion from the corresponding period of 2012. Operating income for the quarter rose by 0.67 percent to 1.82 billion riyals.

The kingdom's second largest branch network makes Riyad Bank well placed to benefit from expected growth of mortgage lending, although its net profit in the next 3-4 quarters may be restrained by higher provisioning, Global Investment House said in a report last month.

The lender said last month it would distribute dividends for the first half of the year worth 975 million riyals - equivalent to 0.65 riyals per share. The amount was the same as in 2012.

Thursday's figures showed total assets at the end of June were 191.63 billion riyals, 6.1 percent higher than the same point of 2012.

Customer deposits gained 7.9 percent from a year earlier and stood at 147.9 billion riyals on June 30. Loans and advances at the end of June stood at 126.2 billion riyals, up 9.6 percent on the same point of 2012. - Reuters